Russian-appointed governor of Crimea vows revenge on " the terrorists" who last week killed a high-ranking officer of the Russian Navy in an attack for which the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) claimed responsibility, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Valery Trankovsky, chief of staff of Russia's 41st Brigade of Missile Ships in the Black Sea, was killed Wednesday in a car bomb explosion in the port of Sevastopol.
A representative of the SSU told Reuters that according to the laws of war, the 47-year-old Trankovsky was a "legitimate" targeted for his "war crimes", including ordering missile attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine.
The Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said that those responsible for Trankovsky's murder will pay a heavy price.
"It is obvious what fate awaits the non-humans who dared to do this. Because all terrorists have the same fate," Razvozhaev wrote in "Telegram".
A statement released Wednesday by Russia's Investigative Committee, which investigates serious crimes, said a serviceman was killed in a terrorist attack with an improvised explosive device. Trankovsky's name is not mentioned in the text.
Trankovsky was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). After studying radio electronics, he entered the Black Sea Fleet and later graduated from the Naval Academy in his hometown.
Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, several prominent Russian supporters of the war have been killed in operations that Moscow blames on Kiev. Among them are the journalist Darya Dugina, the military blogger Vladlen Tatarski and the former submarine commander Stanislav Rzhitsky.
The headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, located in Sevastopol, was repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian attacks during the conflict.